Customer Reviews

Just - William (Lythway Large Print Books)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am suprised that North America has missed such a classic. Even if it is very English, obviously India can appreciate it, so why not North America. I am fouteen and have been living in Canada for four years now, and have been reading my William books since I was much, much smaller. They are hilarious! Maybe if we write enough of these wistful reviews, someone will read thses books and decide to publish them in North America, too! (Hint)

Is good literature for children over? Do we have to conform ourselves with horrible pictures of violent and perverted cartoons? I am definitely not a moralist, but I grew up in a world where you could read Guillermo (William) and find good, interesting adventures by a bunch of outlaw kids, doing innocent but funny things in England, and feel identified with them ,even if you were a Mexican kid from the Northern desert, That is what I call universal identification. I hope these books will be available again soon, because the are very good. And Very funny.

My parents both read the William Stories and passed on their collections - mostly first or second edition Newnes in the cheaper red boards. I have been reading them for 30 years and never tire of their wit and charm. If you need your spirits lifted then "William and the Triplets" from William the Pirate cannot be beaten for sublime humour. My only regret is that I cannot find a copy of William the Lawless - a book that has become my holy grail!

The William books combine ironic and slapstick humor with great writing--a sort of combination of Jane Austen and the Katzenjammer kids. I read many of them at night in bed while I was pregnant, and would laugh so hard I would shake the bed and wake up my husband. These books are available through Amazon.com.uk by mail order, in paperback at a reasonable price.

The William books are appropriate for readers of all ages. Although, I first read them as a child, they remain as much fun even now. The world of William,in school uniforms and school discipline, is as real in India as it was in William's time. Good reading for anyone who is tired of pressures at school.

The first "Guillermo" book I read was from our school library, and I quickly went through their entire supply. I asked for more books for my birthday and subsequently collected many tomes. These books inspired many of my childhood adventures and I would love to relive the experience and read them with my 8-year old son. They are charming, entertaining and very well written, and the translations into Spanish were very good. I would like to purchase the collection in English or Spanish, and I'm hoping they are made available soon at reasonable prices.

Isn't it interesting how most of the people who have reviewed this book are from India, Mexico, Costa Rica etc. It seems that Western publishers don't want to publish anything that's over twenty years old. So the public must content itself with "waiting for the next Harry Potter". The only reason Harry Potter is more popular than Just William is because it is NEWER. Of course these days it's all about the fad, isn't it? Pretty soon all the good books I read as a child - Just William, the Jennings books, the Narnian series - will be out of print.

Are children's books the only victims of this deliberate amnesia? I might as well throw out the Beatles records and stock up on Boyzone and Ricky Martin since after all, new is better...

I began to read "Guillermo" in spanish when I was 9 years old and moved to Spain in 1959. My aunt was a devoted fanatic and she made me a total addict as well! We would often reduce each other to tears of laughter when we recounted William's misdeeds and adventures gone awry. I think every child should have a chance to sample and enjoy these books. I had a beautiful set of all of the books in hardback,but alas they disappeared when I left Spain 3 yrs later. I now have 7 and 9 year olds that I want to turn on to this great character. If you have never read these books, young or old, I can highly reccommend them as timeless works of great warmth and humour that present in a most enjoyable way a bygone era of the simplicity and joy of youth.

As everyone says, they really are wonderful books. They remind us of the times (up to the 1960s?) when children lived very largely in a world of other children, both at home and at school, and interacted only tangentially with the adult world. And felt free to roam the countryside. In the UK, the William books are also available on tape, wonderfully read by Martin Jarvis. Surely a US publisher should take them up...?

The William series by Richmal Crompton is the best piece of children's literature I have read. The best thing about it is - it continues to delight as much now (20 years later) as it did when I was younger. The language is excellent - the situations timeless ; for sheer humour - hard to beat. The combination of outrageously incredible situations and excellent use of the language is as good as any Wodehouse I have read (though rare is the kid who reads Wodehouse). These books are available in India (since 1993) and are published by Macmillan-U.K (I believe). I am surprised to find that no bookseller in the U.S. carries the series (or ahs even heard about it). Young American readers have definitely missed something.